News Subscribe to Our Newsletter Sign up for Email Updates CGF In the News Press Inquiries Past Articles Calendar			Palo Alto Weekly November 21, 2002   Planning Commission  disputes hills zoning At issue is how  high university can build in open-space areas By Don Kazak  Stanford University's right to build anything above  200 feet in its foothills land met with resistance from the Palo Alto  Planning Commission Wednesday. The proposal, by Santa Clara County, would establish zoning standards  for the 2,000 acres of Stanford hills within the county's jurisdiction. Stanford's general use permit allows it to build 15,000 square feet of  buildings in the hills over the next decade. But the visual impact of  those buildings is of concern to planning commissioners. The Community Plan, part of the use permit, says Stanford should not be  allowed to build in the hills above the 200-foot line. But the hills zoning  proposed by the county planning staff is more generous, allowing structures  to be built above 200 feet. Planning Commissioner Pat Burt noted that 188 acres of the Stanford hills  within Santa Clara County are below the 200-foot elevation, which gives  Stanford plenty of area to build without going higher into the hills. "I think it is a significant issue," Burt said. Members of two environmental watchdog groups, the Committee for Green  Foothills and the Stanford Open Space Alliance, also zeroed in on the  200-foot elevation issue. "We're concerned about visual protection," Denice Dade of the  Committee for Green Foothills said. "The county board (of supervisors)  put it in, and the county staff dismissed it (in the proposed zoning)." "Protection of the foothills is something of keen concern to people  in this area," said Jeff Siegel of the Stanford Open Space Alliance. There are other issues in the proposed Stanford hills zoning of concern  to both the green groups and the Palo Alto Planning Commission, including  review of future projects in the hills and how Stanford would "cluster"  future development in the hills. There were enough concerns raised that  four commissioners present Wednesday night expressed frustration that  no one from the county planning staff was at the meeting to question. One of the other issues is whether Stanford would be able to use what  are now "special conservation areas" -- areas which are environmentally  sensitive or protected habitat and which can't be used for development  -- in exchange for any future development. The proposed county zoning  notes that "conservation easements" -- in effect, open-space  protection -- have to be made whenever Stanford does build something in  the hills. "It's double-counting" if the special conservation areas also  can be used for the required conservation easements, Dade said. The Planning Commission's comments will go on to the City Council for  consideration at its Dec. 2 meeting. After that discussion, the city will  send a letter to the county Planning Commission outlining Palo Alto's  concerns. Page last updated December 6, 2002 .